The Crazy Lady
by literary1
Summary: When young Joe and Hoss scare themselves one night, they go to Adam's room and tell him the story of the "Crazy Lady". *Prequel* *Young Cartwrights*


**Disclaimer: I do not own Bonanza or any respective characters. **

**A/N: I've been trying to figure out how to write out this idea for sooo long, it's simply ridiculous. So, I decided just to type it out and see how it goes. Here's what I came up with. I might do a rewrite if any of you have suggestions on how to make it better. I'm open to them :)**

His bedroom door creaked open, and two sets of feet crept across the wood floor. Adam squeezed his eyes shut and pretended not to hear his little brothers approaching. Maybe, if they thought he was truly asleep, they'd actually go to bed like he told them to an hour ago.

"Adam," eight-year-old Joe whispered, his voice pitching fearfully, "we're scared."

Adam inwardly groaned. "What has Pa told you about telling ghost stories?"

"But it wasn't a ghost story," Hoss said, "it was a true one!"

"Humph," Adam retorted, reaching over and turning up his lamp. He glared at his brothers. Joe's eyes were like hazel saucers, staring back at him. Hoss was avoiding his gaze, keeping his eyes focused on the floorboards. Adam sighed and pulled back his blankets. "Get in."

Joe leapt up on Adam's bed crawled across him to the other side. He burrowed under the covers and curled into Adam's side. Hoss, while accepting of Adam's invitation, seemed embarrassed that he was scared and needed his big brother for comfort. However, he slid onto the bed as well.

"So what was this terrifying true story?" Adam asked gruffly. In spite of himself, he was curious.

Joe sprung up. "It was about a widow who killed her husband and then buried him in her barn."

"Where'd you hear a story like that?" Adam demanded.

"Johnny told me at school," Joe said matter-of-factly.

"Well, Johnny is too young to be talking about murder," Adam said, "and he shouldn't be telling other children. However," Adam added, "I don't see why that story would scare you."

"But that ain't the whole story," Hoss spoke up.

"I'm listening."

Joe looked across the bed at Hoss. "You tell 'im."

"Well," Hoss began, swallowing uncomfortably, "this lady, she was crazy. That's why she killed her husband. But then, the next day, she forgot what she did, and so she went out to look for 'im. Her husband, he had dark hair, and because she was crazy, she killed the first dark haired man she saw. But she ran away before the law caught her. And so she went on and on, killing every dark haired man she met."

"She'd stab 'em, shoot 'em, push 'em off of roofs," Joe said.

Adam interrupted. "Push them off roofs? How many times has she done that?"

"Only once so far," Joe admitted. He got quiet, then whispered. "In Virginia City."

"Virginia City?" Adam started laughing. This had gone too far. "I think I would have heard if someone got pushed off a roof in Virginia City."

"It's true! And it just happened too," Hoss said.

Adam stared. "What? You don't mean you think Mr. Roberts falling off his store roof was because of that crazy lady."

Joe and Hoss nodded solemnly.

"And she wasn't caught," Joe said. He looked at Adam's window. "That means she still out there, looking for dark haired men."

Hoss gently touched Adam's head. "You've got dark hair, Adam."

"And you're a man," Joe added soberly.

"You two are being perfectly ridiculous!" Adam said, "There is no crazy woman running around killing dark haired men. What happened to Mr. Roberts was a complete accident, plain and simple."

"How do you know?" whispered Hoss.

"Because I do," Adam stated.

"Were you there when he fell?" Joe asked.

"No," Adam said.

"Was anyone there?"

Adam hesitated, knowing he was stepping into a trap. "No."

"Then how do you...or anyone...know _she_ wasn't?" Joe asked cryptically

How could an eight-year-old be so creepy?

Adam glared. "This is beyond idiotic! It's time for bed." Adam leaned over Hoss and turned down the lamp.

All was quiet for a few moments.

"Adam," Joe said.

"What?"

"Do you really think that story is just made up?"

"Yes."

"I'm not so scared if you don't believe it," Joe said.

"Good. Now go to sleep."

"Okay. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Long after his brothers were asleep, Adam was still awake.

He didn't sleep the rest of the night.

END


End file.
